

Those suffering from poor sleep, could find that 5-HTP is the perfect sleep supplement to promote a better night’s rest. Serotonin is also needed for your pineal gland to produce melatonin, which is the hormone that affects the body’s sleep-wake cycle. It is an essential component in making serotonin, which is a chemical messenger in the body responsible for mood, learning, and helps promote healthy sleep patterns. Its chemical name is 5-hydroxytryptophan. What is 5-HTP and How Does it Affect Sleep?ĥ-HTP is an amino-acid that our bodies can naturally create. Our guide dives into how to take 5-HTP and what exactly it is. Promoting serotonin and melatonin development, 5-HTP can help regulate your sleep cycle. Talk to your Health Care provider for more information on what might work best for you and always check with your pharmacist to ensure you will have no contraindications from medication and supplement use.Suffering from poor sleeping? Taking 5-HTP can help you achieve a good night’s rest - leaving you feel refreshed each morning. Melatonin seems best suited for specific situations and will not make you feel tired unless you are already low on melatonin. It also makes you feel generally happier.

Overall, it seems that 5-HTP can help you get a deeper sleep (because it increases your REM sleep) and can help you stay asleep if you have problems waking up and getting back to sleep. As it increases seratonin levels and not just melatonin levels, it has other positive mood enhancing benefits like feeling happier and more relaxed. It is useful for jet lag, ADHD, insomnia.ĥ-HTP comes from L-tryptophan and increases seratonin production and seratonin increases melatonin production in turn. 5-HTP bypasses the brain's light-regulation system and crosses the blood-brain barrier.

Melatonin seems to work best when people have low melatonin levels, not if their levels are normal. Melatonin is stored in the pineal gland and is only released when there is low light. 5-HTP and Melatonin are both hormones but they do different things. We get asked a lot which is better? 5-HTP or Melatonin.
